If you happen to know a shoe cobbler, count yourself in the minority.

A quick glance in the yellow pages reveals exactly one in the Miss-Lou.

It’s a profession with little glory, little fame and little recognition.

And, in today’s disposable economy, one that may soon disappear. It’s one of many businesses that has found itself in a difficult position — keep doing things the way they’ve always been done or change with the times.

From his quaint shop in the Magnolia Mall shopping center, Joe S’Rellim is repairing shoes the old-fashioned way and fighting to keep the shoe repair industry alive. He’s passionate about shoes — especially cowboy boots — and has no plans of letting his fellow man walk around in broken down, holey, footwear.

“I really like my work,” he said. “I like working with boots, I love cowboy boots.”

S’Rellim got his first taste of the craft while working as a shoe shiner when he was young. After the shoes had been repaired, S’Rellim would buff them and box them up for the customer. That was decades ago, but he hasn’t forgotten those early days.

“I still shine the shoes by hand most of the time,” he said. “I have a machine that will do it, but I still like to hand shine them. That comes from being a buff boy.”

After growing out of his buff boy position, S’Rellim joined the Army and after serving his time, took a job at International Paper in Natchez. During his IP days, he also worked part time at a shoe repair service in town.

“That’s how I learned the shoe repair business,” he said. “I did it part time for a while.”

After IP closed, S’Rellim needed work, so he decided to go full time with his part-time job. He purchased the then-closed shoe repair service he had once worked at and set up shop in Magnolia Mall. That was three years ago and S’Rellim said business has been good, but not as good as he would like.

“It’s a tough business in this area,” he said. “It just doesn’t really stay cold enough, long enough. Shoe repair places in the colder states do very well. People need good boots when it’s cold.

“In winter, business really picks up, but it can be slow in summer.”

Boots, shoes, sandals, high-heels, even purses — S’Rellim can fix them all. If a shoe needs it, he can take care of it. He said most of his business is replacing heels on women’s shoes, but his favorite thing to repair is cowboy boots.

He proudly held up a pair of tan, newly shined western boots that had just received a new heel as he talked about his passion for his work.

“This is a unique job,” he said. “There’s not a lot of us left.”

S’Rellim said most of his business is from repeat customers who keep coming back because they like the quality of work he does. The rows of shined shoes lining the shelves in the shop are a testament to the quality of his work. There are three pairs of boots, all with fresh soles and dozens of pairs of women’s shoes complete with new heels — all of which look as good as new.

S’Rellim is hopeful that the quality of his work will help his business survive when so many others like his haven’t.

In the face of change, some businesses collapse and others adapt and thrive.

In the late ’90s, when the Internet began to blossom, travelers began to rely less and less on travel agents. Individuals could now easily plan a trip, purchase plane tickets and book hotel reservations without the help of professionals.

It seemed the end of the travel agent was near. But one local travel company, Natchez Travel and Associates, decided to change the nature of their business and are now reaping the rewards of their decision.

Natchez Travel began offering individualized, high-end travel services — something the Internet hasn’t mastered yet — and the customers keep coming back for more.

“We work with people who expect trips to be more customized,” Natchez Travel owner Margaret Rowe said. “They expect and appreciate our knowledge of hotels and experience traveling.”

Rowe and her husband started their company 23 years ago, but back then they were a traditional travel agency. They booked plane tickets and made reservations for travelers the old-fashioned way.

“When we started, if people needed tickets, we took care of that,” she said. “But we could foresee the end of that service, so we stopped offering it. There’s just no need for expertise for that anymore. It’s so easy, anyone can do it.”

When the company stopped issuing plane tickets, they began to plan entire vacations for travelers. From the plane tickets, to the tour service, to the hotel reservations — Natchez Travel can handle it all.

“We now focus solely on trips that are more customized,” she said. “Now we use tour operators that include everything in one package. Everything is totally customized to meet the needs and wishes of the traveler.”

If a client wants to spend four weeks in Italy, Rowe can plan every day and every aspect of vacation — from car rentals, train tickets, restaurant reservations and hotels.

Rowe said a lot of her business is custom cruise vacations that include tours of the areas where the ships dock. Rowe even travels with her clients sometimes to ensure they are getting top-service service.

Rowe is grateful that the Internet forced her business to change, but said there are some things a Web site just can’t do.

“You can see a lot online, but if you haven’t been there, it’s not the same,” she said. “If you don’t see it for yourself, there are some things you just don’t know.”

So Rowe travels across the world to make sure the destinations she’s suggesting to customers are as good as they look online. It’s this level of service that has kept her in the travel business for two decades. And it’s her flexibility and ability to adapt that will keep her in it in the decades to come.

“As the times change, you have to change with it,” she said.